VIBRANT

Novo Nordisk A/S - Hagedorn Research Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

Working Group Leader

Professor Thomas Mandrup-Poulsen, MD, D.M.Sc.

Hagedorn Research Institute
Niels Steensens Vej 1
DK-2820 Gentofte
Phone: (+45) 4443 9101
Fax: (+45) 4443 8000
E-mail adress: tmpo@hagedorn.dk

Group Members

Nils Billestrup
Toby Brunt
Annette Thyde

Participant Organisation: Hagedorn Research Institute (HRI), Copenhagen, Denmark. The HRI is a not-for-profit diabetes research institute owned by Novo Nordisk A/S located north of Copenhagen, and closely collaborating with the Steno Diabetes Center on the same campus, which is engaged in 1) treatment of diabetic patients, 2) education of health care professionals and 3) research. Currently 5 research departments exist at the HRI. The Department of Translational Diabetology, headed by Prof. Mandrup-Poulsen, conducts basic and clinical research with a focus on β-cell biology. The department consists of one director, one senior scientist, one post-doctoral fellow, 3 Ph.D. students, 2 master students, 4 technicians and one administrative assistant. The department has investigated for over 20 years the molecular mechanisms of β-cell destruction in T1DM and was the first to demonstrate that the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β causes β-cell death in T1DM. These findings were brought forward to T2DM. Recently projects concern the role of β-cell growth factors on β-cell growth and survival. The close association with the clinical departments of the HRI as well as with the Research & Development at Novo Nordisk A/S greatly facilitates the determined transfer of basic β-cell research into the clinical setting.

Key recent publication:

• Karlsen AE, Rønn SG, Lindberg K, Johannesen J, Galsgaard ED, Pociot F, Nielsen JH, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Nerup J, Billestrup N, Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 98: 12191-12196, 2001
• Størling J, Zaitsev SV, Kapelioukh IL, Karlsen AE, Billestrup N, Berggren P-O, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Endocrinology 146: 3026-36, 2005
• Størling J, Binzer J, Andersson AK, Zueling RA, Tonnesen M, Lehmann R, Spinas GA, Sandler S, Billestrup N, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Diabetologia 48:2039-50, 2005
• Larsen CM, Døssing MG, Papa S, Franzoso G, Billestrup N, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Diabetologia:49:980-9, 2006
• Frobøse H, Rønn SG, Heding PE, Mendoza H, Cohen P, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Billestrup N, Mol Endocrinol. 20: 1587-96, 2006
• Larsen CM, Faulenbach M, Vaag A, Vølund A, Ehses JE, Seifert B, Mandrup-Poulsen T, Donath MY (shared last coauthorship), N Engl J Med 356:1517-26, 2007